Weekly Review through July 9

Whew! It's been a while since I've done a Weekly Review post! Time to get caught up. :)

Fitness
The bulk of my fitness has centered on training for my upcoming Triathlon on July 17. It will be here very soon! This most recent week, I began my official taper for the triathlon. Here's a breakdown of the past few weeks, since I haven't done a review since June 18.

June 19-25
Sunday- 10 mile hike in Refrigerator Canyon near Helena. READ HERE!

Monday- rest
Tuesday- BRICK WORKOUT: 14 mile bike, 3.2 mile run
Wednesday- 4.1 mile treadmill interval workout
Thursday- 2000 yards of swimming laps
Friday- rest/Drive to Red Lodge
Saturday- 5 mile hike in Custer National Forest. READ HERE!

This photo isn't from the hike, but Jeff, Tom and I drove to the top of Beartooth Pass and this photo was taken there. 

June 26-July 2
Sunday- 3.5 mile run in Red Lodge
Monday- 7 mile mountain bike ride in Red Lodge
Tuesday- BRICK WORKOUT:  10 mile bike, 3 mile run
Wednesday- I did a TON of yardwork outside today, and 30 minutes of yoga
Thursday- 3.75 mile treadmill tempo run
Friday- 1500 yards swimming, AND 12 mile bike ride

Saturday- rest.

July 3-9
Sunday- 4.7 mile run

Abby joined me on my run while Harvey chose to stay home.

Monday- BRICK WORKOUT: 10 mile bike, 2.5 mile run
Tuesday- 8 mile bike, 1500 yard swim
Wednesday- 60 Minutes of yoga-- loved it!
Thursday- 4.3 mile run outside with Harvey! ICYMI, Harvey wrote all about this run and you can read his recap HERE!

Friday- 7.5 mile bike ride
Saturday- 4.6 mile interval run on treadmill

Year To Date:
Running: 313.15
Walking/Hiking: 87.2 miles 
Yoga: 1190 min 
CC-Ski: 500 min / 14.1 miles *Done for the season
Alpine Ski: 3 days *Done for the season
Mountain bike: 156.2
Swimming: 9000 yards

Spring wheat heads are filling. 

Farm
Things have been very busy on the farm, which is partly why I haven't written a Weekly Review post in a while! We've been busy cutting and baling hay, spraying our conventional farm fields, plowing up the rest of our organic land, and cultivating some of our fallow fields. We also moved some of our cows to different pastures, and had a cattle rep out to work out a deal for our calves to be presented for sale in a video auction. It really just seems like it's been a blur.

This is a picture of Jeff driving the tractor and breaking up ground that will be seeded as organic fields.

Life
I can officially say now that I am part of the unemployment ranks. I got laid off from my job in June and my official last day (even though I hadn't worked since school got out) was June 30. The whole situation was a really big mess and I'm not going to go into detail, except to say that I've never worked for such a poorly managed, dishonest company in my life. Frustrating. But, as I've written about before, the school where I worked (the school contracted with my former company and was simply the site of my job)-- the school was fantastic. I'll really miss working there and seeing those kids every day, and the teachers and staff, who were also amazing. I still have my track coaching position in the Spring, so I'll continue to be involved that way.

In the meantime, I've applied for unemployment, which is a hard thing to rationalize in my mind. I've been working steadily since I was fourteen years old. I remind myself that it wasn't my fault that my job ended, I'm a good worker, and I'm simply taking part in a system that was set up for situations exactly like this. It won't be permanent. On the other hand, I'm thankful that this system does exist!

So, I have been looking for work locally and applying for jobs. There isn't a glutton of jobs in Almost-Canada, MT, so there's not a lot to choose from, but I'm hopeful that something will work out. On the other hand, as I've said, summer on the farm is extremely busy and I've found that I actually haven't missed working over the summer so far. I've had plenty to do to stay busy and feel productive around home.


This upcoming week my parents will be here for a visit from Iowa. Jeff and I are looking forward to hosting them on the farm, and they'll also be joining us in Helena to spectate my triathlon. It'll be a great visit!

This is some of our neighbor's winter wheat-- feels like harvest is right around the corner!